[Nicholai]

We've talked about a global die-off, bug-out shelters, buying ammunition, stocking up on food, becoming self sufficient etc.

We've had a hard time coming up with any rational conclusions over who should be the first to go...the "elderly" strike me as one example but here is one demographic that hasn't seriously been considered: the ugly.

I was digging through some old editions of The Economist when I came across a piece that just made me stop in my tracks...

Beauty and success

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he ugly are one of the few groups against whom it is still legal to discriminate. Unfortunately for them, there are good reasons why beauty and success go hand in hand

[gampy]

Interestingly enough, the era of the thin, svelte and body fat-less woman is a new phenomenon in western society.

Historically, (up to the early 20th century at least) larger women with big hips, big butts, and ample curves was the standard of beauty, and attractiveness for men.

Many examples of the obese "goddess" can be found in ancient statuary, and art.

In hard times, "fat chicks" were more likely to survive birth, and be able to feed their newborns. There is a reason why fertility was equated with some "cushion for the pushin'".

In fact, many men today prefer the rotund form of a women as opposed to the bony-assed anorexics you see on magazine covers.

More than you might think.

What many men find attractive today is the product of some serious propaganda, advertising, and social conditioning.

Women are most to blame actually for turning the anorexic into the new standard of sex appeal.

[kpeavey]

Natural selection favors attractive appearance. Our modern society is awash in appearance improving goods and services.

Economics can greatly influence appearance. Money can help one acquire clothing, makeup, jewelry, cosmetic surgery, a shiny sports car, all sorts of material things which enhance appearance. An ugly chick with a pile of money looks good to me right now.

Access to adequate medical care can improve ones appearance. Dermatologists, acne treatment, and dentistry are at the top of the list.

Cosmetic and appearance enterprises and products abound. Tanning salons, tanning lotion, hair replacement, Lasik eye surgery, tiny hearing aids, breath fresheners, shampoo-conditioner-finishing rinse, Dapper Dan vs Fop, teeth whiteners, Nair, hand lotion, lipstick, mascara, fingernail polish, shoe polish, deodorants, fake eye lashes, nail salons, hair stylists, wigs, boob jobs, nose jobs, wax jobs, chin jobs, face lifts, tummy tucks, botox injections, acid peels, GLH40,G old's Gym, South Beach Diet, Adkins diet, Avon, Mary Kay, Jenny Craig, Vidal Sassoon. There is a pill you can take to treat yellow toenails. There is another pill you can take if all your other appearance promoting efforts work out for you.

What a vain society we have become.

Start taking away these products, the general public will start to increase its ugly index. While weight may be handled with a food crisis, lots of issues will present in a paradigm of decreased nutrition expected from a decline of energy and petroleum availability. Skin blemishes and acne top the list. Add an increase in physical labor, less sleep, stress and anxiety, even the beautiful people will get bags under their eyes, grey hair, and wrinkles. For those who are already unsightly, they'll be the same only more so.

Attractive appearance is an advantage for reproduction and survival, as well as standard of living. Looks can open doors, bad looks can close them.

I admit, I prefer good looking women. Yes, I'm shallow, but thats just on the surface.


----

Lady Astor: Mr. Churchill, you're drunk!

Winston Churchill: Yes, and you, Madam, are ugly. But tomorrow, I shall be sober.

[AlexdeLarge]

LOL You do not know much about genetics and why humans have a tendency to get fat based on our current diets. Humans are genetically designed to store fat for the lean times to increase the chance of surviving starvation.

The skinny Catherine Zeta Jones is a freak of nature. She will disappear in a "post oil" world. So you may want to hang on to your playboys!

[Falconoffury]

In the future, people will be even more emaciated than Catherine Zeta-Jones.

[RedStateGreen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Falconoffury', 'I')n the future, people will be even more emaciated than Catherine Zeta-Jones.

[Nicholai]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')OL You do not know much about genetics and why humans have a tendency to get fat based on our current diets. Humans are genetically designed to store fat for the lean times to increase the chance of surviving starvation.

The skinny Catherine Zeta Jones is a freak of nature. She will disappear in a "post oil" world. So you may want to hang on to your playboys!

[Hawkcreek]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')'m just saying that instinctively, there will be much more spite towards an individual who looks like this:

[gampy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')'m just saying that instinctively, there will be much more spite towards an individual who looks like this:

[jupiters_release]

The quantity of fat is secondary to the quality of the fat, the average diet is industrial and carcinogenic, therefore most people regardless of weight are unhealthy.

[jupiters_release]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gampy', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')'m just saying that instinctively, there will be much more spite towards an individual who looks like this:

[gampy]

Lol, lest I be called a chubby chaser, I am just trying to be contrarian.

Aye, there is good fat, from a healthful diet with underlying muscle tone, and bad fat, from cheetos and watching Oprah all day.

I have seen some incredibly beautiful women who many might consider overweight. Also seen some incredibly ugly women who are fit as a fiddle.

It's all a matter of taste.

Although I will say that morbid obesity is not attractive to me.

It's a matter of degree. As I am sure some here would not find Nicole Ritchie a "hottie."